Happy Coffee Day! Making Homemade Cleaners

Hello Coffee Girls! Thanks for stopping by. I’ve got a pot of medium-roast Breakfast Blend on (and the kettle on for you tea lovers) – help yourself to a pumpkin scone while you’re here!

A few weeks ago I wrote about making Lotion Bars among other things. I did in fact make them, BUT because I didn’t have a great measuring system for the beeswax, I’ve had to remelt them down and grate in some additional wax. The oil left things extra oily and the bars were more malleable in my hand than they should be. So the re-newed batch is setting up now, and I’ll share the recipe when I’ve mastered it. LOL

I found some other household cleaning recipes that I wanted to share. I really have been thrilled with using Vinegar and Baking Soda for many household cleaning projects.

Here are a few recipes I found in my Homemade recipe book from Reader’s Digest:

Creamy Scrubbing Cleaner

Mix well and store in sealed glass jar. The shelf life for this cleaner is 2 years! (I get my baking soda at Sam’s Club – got my Dr. Bronner’s liquid castile soap at Kroger’s, and my vegetable glycerin at a local health food store. If you use a scented castile soap, it probably isn’t necessary to add the essential oil for scent…)

All Purpose Cleaner

Mix vinegar and borax in bottle. Add 1 cup hot distilled water and shake until all is dissolved. Add more water until almost full. Add 1/4 cup liquid castile soap and swirl until mixed. (I’ll just plug the peppermint castile soap as my favorite cleaning smell. It is fresh and clean and I love cleaning with it. )

Liquid Fabric Softener

Stir all together and store in plastic lidded container. Use 1/4 cup per wash load. (Plain vinegar alone is a great fabric softener, but if you would like to add a nice scent to your load, this liquid recipe may work well for you!)

Hope you enjoy these recipes. I really enjoy using more natural products in my home and spending MUCH LESS money on cleaners and cleaning products.

Do you have any homemade cleaner recipes you rely on?

*If you’re on the fence about trying homemade cleaners – you’re not alone. Try starting with one recipe and see how it works for you. No need to go gung ho with switching out every cleaner until you see how one works for you. =)

20 Responses to “Happy Coffee Day! Making Homemade Cleaners”

I love these ideas! I just made a laminate floor cleaner yesterday but need to try it out today…will let you know about that one. Wondering about the essential oils in the fabric softener…it doesn’t make things oily? It’s just there for fragrance? Keep ’em comin’ Honey – these are great ideas and sooo frugal too. Thanks for sharing your research. Would LOVE to join you for coffee and a pumpkin scone this morning!!!

The essential oil is in such small quantity, that it really is just for fragrance. It’s pretty concentrated so it isn’t necessary to use much. =) Lavender, Eucalyptus, Peppermint – I’ve seen them recommended for use in cleaning products – but if you go to a health food store, you’ll probably find a variety of scents available for your preference!

Love hearing about all your homemade recipes…and that you try them out first, sometimes I am a little leary of them. When I get myself organized around here, I will have to try them out! Have a great weekend!

How timely – I was thinking earlier about researching some of the homemade cleaners and maybe switching when my current batch runs out. We had to clean our shower head a few weeks ago, and soaking it in vinegar worked so much better than anything else – I’m wondering what else I could stop using the expensive stuff for?!

Hello there! Thank you for the pumpkin scone, it was delicious! I enjoyed reading through your home made cleaning recipes. I need to hang around you more often to glean these money-saving tips! Not to mention that it’s a healthier way to clean. I have to wear a gas mask with the stuff I use.

That is a great idea; maybe I will give it a try at some point. Or if I’m in a pinch and have run out of laundry detergent :)
Hope your soap sets up nicely this time!
Thanks for the invitation to visit and for the pumpkin scones. What a perfect fall Friday treat! :)

I’ve found when using white vinegar in the laundry – if I have a “vinegar-y” smell, that one single rinse & spin cycle takes care of it. I try not to overdo it, and once the clothes are dry, I don’t smell the vinegar anymore… I especially love it for towels and sheets – makes them SOOO soft!!!

hmmm…I will try these…thanks so much for posting your recipes. I used to make my own soap and became a big fan of both shea butter and goat’s milk bars. I still have my old recipes somewhere, maybe I will hunt them up and send them to you!

Here’s one for homemade laminate floor cleaner…it doesn’t get any easier, or better, than this. I tried it today for the first time and my floor looks wonderful!
1 cup water
1 cup rubbing alcohol
1 cup white vinegar
1 T. liquid dishwashing soap
Mix and put in spray bottle – use like you would purchased cleaner. Enjoy!

You are very ambitious to find and try all these recipes…I’m afraid I’m very lazy and take the easy way out and just buy the premade stuff by I admire somebody that will go the extra mile and do stuff like that!